For those of you who love durians and live in Bangsar, there are two durian sellers currently outside TMC - one with two tables directly outside TMC against the TMC walls and another by the roadside along the main road. DON’T GO TO THE ROADSIDE ONE. Been there, it’s crap. And they are so Chinaman that they only wanted to screw us, knowing how useless I am at choosing durians. They even wanted to charge for lousy durians; we ate there, you see…..

As for the stall directly outside TMC, they have some very lovely durians and furthermore, if you go around 8pm onwards, they start having a fire sale. I have been there several times to eat there and they give me the best durians. Something called Tekkah that costs RM25 per pack is brought down to RM15 for 2 packs. Good deal? Go for it!

This is a common problem I have had ever since I was in University. Every time it was winter and I got the flu, I was bound to be hospitalised and sometimes struck with laryngitis. All my Univeristy mates know me as the girl who had a note pad and pen around her neck simply because I couldn’t talk!

I got a mild attack this morning. After having a flu for almost a week, I woke up this morning without a voice. After straining it all day, I managed to have a slight voice by the end of the day. Poor Tee had to entertain herself again today as I was so sick and had to sleep for a few hours. She was not happy. At alll. So many unanswered questions. What to do?

But at the end of the day before bedtime, she held my face with her two little hands and whispered, “Mommy? I love you just the way you are. Don’t ever change, ok?”

Fucking hell, for the devil that she is, I live for these moments………………

Clinging onto her prettiest floral dress today, Tee ran to the bathroom shouting, “Mommy!!! Quick!!! I need to poo!!! Bwing me some water!!!” Sigh…..such grace.

I was in the midst of washing the dishes so I shouted out to her to go ahead first and I’d be right along.

She soon ran back to the kitchen, still clinging onto her dress and stamping her feet, “Quick!!! It’s coming out!!! Bwing the water!!!” with eyes bulging out as though they were sirens.

Gosh, I hate being rushed. So again I urged her to go ahead first and asked why the hell she needed water when she had literally just finished a whole cup of milk.

“Huwwy, Mom!! It’s going to come out! I need water to make sure it’s SOFT!!!” and she ran off to the toilet.

Rushing behind her with a cup of water, I started scolding her that she should have at least gone and removed her panties first, rather than run back and forth in rushing me!

So plonk! I put her on the toilet bowl and she drank the entire cup in one breath. I waited. She waited. I waited. She waited. I waited. We waited……………………………………………………………………………..and waited…………………………and waited……………………………………………………………………………………………………….and waited.

And waited.

Then she said rather matter of factly, “A stowy would help.”

Tell me honestly now, how many of you have become toilet story tellers to your almost four year old? I seriously don’t remember having such demanding poop sessions in my entire childhood life.

I conjured up a quick story about Tito the Turtle in my head who had a lot of friends in the ocean comprising the fishes, an octopus, a squid, some sea horses and other turtles. Then Tito had a special friend, to which Tee interrupted and said Tito’s special friend was called Flowert. Huh? Hang on! Who’s telling the story here? So Tito liked Flowert a lot and they did everything together everyday and before I knew it, Tee was blurbing out the story herself from her little imaginative head.

And I was still waiting for that darn poop to expel.

“When is it coming out?” I asked, to which she replied rather annoyed for me to CONTINUE THE STOWY!

These four year olds are fickled, aren’t they? I thought she had taken over with the story telling. Geez!

When the story finally ended with Tito and Flowet having a double wedding where they finally met Tee, who became their owner, the royal poop finally descended. And it wasn’t soft.

“Are you done?”

“No. Tell me another stowy.”

“No! Hurry up and ask you poop to come out faster!”

“Just one more stowy!”

“No. I’m not well. You tell me a story.”

Ten centuries later……

“OK. I’m done.”

Finally.

When she got off the potty, there was a red ring around her bum that looked so funny. I was initially worried when I saw it wondering what it was but when I realised what it was, we burst into hysterics with her admiring her red ring on her naked bum against the mirror. So proud of it she was. I sure wish she has better things to be proud of in due course. Then she noticed that I had polka dot grooves on MY bum and started pointing and laughing at me.

Thank you, IKEA. I shall spare you readers, the details.

I’ve been suffering from a sinus infection. Post nasal drip, sore throat, pounding head (even when I talk!) and looking like shit. Mine anyway.

The Hubs is convinced that it is a result of my going out three nights in a row because I am no longer a spring chicken, rather an old hen. Charming. Mind you, all three nights, I was home before midnight. I am quite the Cinderella, you know. The first night, I was at the KL Hilton enjoying a beautiful dinner with some girlies (and I wore my 5 inch wedges!), the second, I’d gone to witness the top scoring school in the country perform and the third, another concert from my old school, another very good school where my beloved cousin is now in. She sang Somewhere Over The Rainbow Acapella - the most perfect part of the entire Romeo and Juliet sing and dance play…….which has now inspired me to take up voice training.

Tonight, I had a durian night with some girlies from the Middle East. Tomorrow we plan to watch the new Angelina Jolie movie. This weekend we have a wedding, and then we’re off to Oz.

Busy or not!?

I still haven’t recovered from the US trip and our home is still in holiday mode *gulp*

By the way, I watched the uncensored version of Sex in The City (the movie) and it is f. excellent. Even the men love it.

“Sorry, I don’t talk to strangers…”

Today, whilst in BV, I dumped Tee on a bench because she wanted to read a Kizsport leaflet announcing their new opening in BV whilst I paid for parking when I heard an elderly lady ask her, “What are you reading, young lady?”

With the look of utter annoyance on her face, Tee mata jelinged (scowled) at the woman and hopped off the bench in a scoff to walk away quickly towards me. If you asked me, it was damn lan si (snooty) of her.

The lady laughed and said, “Smart girl!”

My laugh was automatic too because I had witnessed the whole drama but I felt sorry for the woman because Tee appeared so rude when she was only being friendly. Yet, I couldn’t decide if I should tell Tee that she should have been nicer or to still not talk to strangers under no circumstance.

In the world that we live in today, we can’t take any chances. Talking to a stranger may possibly lead to something untoward and it is this risk that I am unwilling to take.

Thus on the way back to the car, I actually told Tee that I was proud of her that she had remembered what Mommy said about talking to strangers. I did mention though that she can perhaps say next time, “Sorry, I’m not allowed to talk to strangers” nicely, then walk off, rather than offer that scornful look before running off!

“Mommy? I wish I could tape your mouth up with cellophane tape so I can do whatever I want.”

I assure you, this was not Tee’s show of displeasure towards the space shuttle launch. Rather, it was her annoyance that we could even suggest that she had to wash her face after the rocket launch. Hehe…..

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The visual history of rockets below:

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Entrance at the Kennedy Space Centre, Port Canaveral, Florida. You can even buy a ticket to have lunch with an astronaut, haha……

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The astronaut memorial plaque.

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The coach that drove us to the launch site.

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That’s how far we were from the rocket. Some ridiculous distance like 6 kilometers because the chemicals and heat that get emitted are super dangerous. Besides, the rocket eventually drops off after the space shuttle is launched into orbit so you wouldn’t want to be anywhere near where it lands. It lands deep into the ocean and a huge dive crew jumps in soon after the heat has dissipated.

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Is it a plane? Is it Superman? Holy cow, it’s……

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…………the hot, flying vibrator!!!

Such is my attempt at humour.

It was such an arduous task getting to the USA from Kuala Lumpur to finally witness this rocket launch, yet all 500% worth it. Despite the heat that enveloped our bodies, the glare on our squinting eyelids, the strain on our necks and thigh muscles, the countdown was more magnificent than any New Year countdown I’d ever experienced. The vast fire that emblazoned the launch site and the intense smoke that scurried out from underneath was like what I imagined an impending volcano erruption to be. And when the countdown hit zero………the roar of giant engines escalated with the fire lit bullet launching into the sky but very quickly quietened down as the bullet got smaller and smaller. And then all that was left, was a haze of mist…………

10 minutes.

That’s it??

What do you mean, that’s it???

Nevermind.

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Tee enjoying herself with the star globe after the launch, which lasted all of 10 minutes. Sigh….travel 38 hours only to enjoy 10 minutes?

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Then she pretends to be the space shuttle……being launched horizontally.

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The place where you can experience rocket simulation - the queues were far too long to interest us.

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Father and daughter with equal enthusiasm for NASA and all things space. Just so you know, Tee knows her planets and some stars, as evidence to their keen interest in the subject.

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After the space shuttle launch, we spent another hour at the gift shop after which to our intense horror, a mega traffic jam awaited us. The cars were just not moving. We left KSC at 6pm but only arrived in the hotel at midnight (Getting there from town took 45 minutes). All plans for dinner back in town were drowned and we ended up in McDonalds midway at about 9.30pm because by then, the kids were already starving. It was an extremely painful night as we were crammed in a car with 3 kids inching our way on an American highway. So, so…….painful. We later heard from the gas station attendant that this happened every time there was a space shuttle launch. Sigh…..

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I leave you with the memory of our space shuttle launch experience.

Wolfing down McDonald’s, tired as hell in the middle of American country……..